Having just returned from two weeks of tenting along the Gibb River Road, Mitchell Plateau and Purnululu National Park we finally have Internet, so here it comes in one big bit!
This afternoon we are off on a seaplane flight to Talbot Sound to take a speedboat through the Horizontal Falls. We are staying overnight on a houseboat.
KATHERINE TO KUNUNURRA
Spent four days in Katherine and bought a few
bits and pieces to help out on our Gibb River Road trip - (eg. a 20 litre water
container) and started looking at what we would need in the way of food.
Left Kununurra and headed towards Victoria
River. We stopped at a wayside stop for lunch. We passed through Timber Creek
and headed to the Gregory River National Park (Dead Horse Creek Campground). We
had been in contact with Sonja's brother Garry and Jill since they began their
trip up the West Coast and finally managed to make a time to cross over. We
arrived at the campground around 3pm and unhitched the caravan before taking a
drive to the lookout, the township of Timber Creek and the Bradshaw Bridge over
the Victoria River into the army training ground. When we were here we saw a 3
metre python that had been crossing the highway.
Arriving back at the campground we parked our
car in a spot for Garry and Jill to park in (we had left our chairs there to reserve
the spot) as it was obvious there wouldn't be a site for them if we waited for
them to arrive - they had a couple of hours drive from Kununurra to get to us.
They arrived around 5pm (having forgotten the 1 1/2 hr time difference between
the Northern Territory and Western Australia). We had a barbecue for tea and a
good long chat with both of them and the couple in the van next to them. A late
night!
Also a quite late start for us the next morning
- took Garry for a walk down to the river and to see the Bowerbird nest that
David had found the day before - the male Great Bowerbird was parading around
his nest. (His choice of decoration was glass and white objects - mostly old
snail shells).
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| Python near Timber Creek |
We set off after saying good-bye to Garry and
Jill and proceeded to the border. Had to eat one tomato we'd forgotten about
and an apple we'd cut up to have for lunch. We made a stop in at Lake Argyle where we bought lunch and had a view from the lookout before heading off to Kununurra.
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| Lake Argyle |
As we hadn't had phone reception
along the road, we couldn't book a site until we were 10 minutes out from the
town. Picked up a site for one night only at the Lakeside Caravan Park -
sunsets are really something now! That night we booked another park for the
next couple of days. We were originally going to stay out at Parry Creek Nature
Park at Wyndham, but when we rang we were told it was VERY dry and we needed to
bring our own water with us. Normally this wouldn't worry us, however, as we
were wanting to leave our caravan for a couple of weeks and wanting to get some
water to take with us, (also, the tone of the person I spoke to at Parry Creek suggested we would be better off elsewhere),
we decided to stay in Kununurra at Hidden Valley Caravan Park as we could leave
the van there ($5 per night).
Next morning (Saturday) it took us 10 minutes to
drive to our new site. We decided to spend three nights here to allow us to
drive to Wyndham (as our last visit there was 30 years ago!) and also give us a
full day rearranging car and van for the trip along the Gibb River Road. A nice
little park right on the edge of the Hidden Valley (......) National Park. We
went and did a bit of grocery shopping and also visited the camping store (as
you do when you are travelling in case you see something you MUST have - we
did!). About 4pm David went for a walk along outskirts of the National Park to
get some photos of the glorious red colour that is highlighted as the sun sets.
Part way into it he had a text from Owen and then Skyped to have a look at our
delightful grandson, Will. As he was quite some distance from Sonja, and
knowing the trouble he'd be in if Sonja didn't get to see him as well, it was a
jogging Skype call! Unfortunately Will wanted a feed and so it was cut short
(and resumed later for Sonja's benefit). Amazing what can be done now with the
help of technology.
On Sunday we drove out to Ivanhoe Crossing, a
curved, concrete ford over the Ord River. We watched a couple of cars drive
through about 30cms of fairly fast flowing water. Sonja decided she didn't want
to go across. However David, brimming with confidence, suggested he could do it
quite easily. Sonja relented but stared upstream with the map in front of her -
didn't want to see the water rushing over the edge of the ford. The drive
across went without problems, although we weren't quite ready for the second
one just around the bend. This one was a bit more challenging as part of it had
eroded and it wasn't quite as smooth as the previous section.
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| Ivanhoe Crossing |
Still, we made
it! We continued along the Parry Creek Road and took a couple of side trips to
Middle Spring, Black Rock Pool and a boat launching ramp at M......Island. We mad a brief call in at Parry Creek Farm,
but didn't stop. The lady was right - dry and dusty (grey as opposed to red
everywhere else). We saw brolgas, jabirus, eagles, and lots of small kangaroos.
Many boab trees, varying in all dimensions, and often in 'groves'. At one stage
they covered a large area, and reminded us of the saguaro cacti on
Arizona.
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| Parry Creek Road |
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| Middle Spring |
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| One of the MANY boabs |
On arriving at Wyndham we went up to the Five
Rivers Lookout. Here the Pentecost, King, Ord, Durak and Forrest Rivers all come together.
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| Five Rivers Lookout view |
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| Sea Eagle at Wyndham Port |
We had lunch before driving around Wyndham. It didn't take long. The town has
decreased considerably in size. Apparently a number of store owners have had to
just walk out of the business as no one wanted to buy. On the way back we
stopped at The Grotto where we had spent some time with David's parents and our
children 30 years before. We decided we wouldn't bother with the steep, rocky
climb down to the water again - last time we all swam there. On leaving here we
thought we'd make it back to Kununurra in time to get some photos of the
sunset. No such luck. We arrived back around 5pm and it was all done! Darkness
comes on very quickly in this part of the world!
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| Sunset over Hidden Valley |
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| Sunset over Hidden Valley |
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| Sunset over Hidden Valley |
We spent almost the entire Monday sorting and
arranging how things would fit into the car. Trying to decide what we did and
didn't need to take with us. It seemed a LONG day! We Skyped Claire as it was
her birthday on Tuesday and we knew we wouldn't have reception.
GIBB RIVER ROAD
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| Packed up to go! |
Phoned Mum while having breakfast as we will be
out of contact for nearly two weeks.
We did the final cleanup and moved the caravan
around to the storage section of the caravan park before setting off on our
adventure.
The first section out to Emma Gorge is bitumen.
This is part of the El Questro Wilderness Park. We had to buy a 7 day pass to
visit the area (could have bought a 1 day pass, but as we were going to stay at
El Questro, we needed the longer time one). We already have a Western
Australian National Parks Pass (1 year) to cover entry into all National Parks
we visit in Western Australia on this trip. We spent a couple of hours here,
and as we walked through the gorge, Sonja decided her knees were up to only
part of the trip and stopped when it be came too rough climbing over the large
rocks (POI No. 9 of 12). David walked to
the end and took the photos of the large pools (with people swimming) for Sonja
to look at later. Sonja knows the limits of her knees and is pacing herself to
be able to do something at each of the gorge stops we make along the trip.
After lunch we drove down to El Questro and booked a site for a couple of
nights. We are now onto dirt roads (the one into El Questro was quite good) and
had a number of river crossings to do, before we made it in. The last, The
Pentacost, was the longest and deepest and will be done a couple of times when
we drive to visit some of the special places in this area.
It has been over 15 years since we last tented
anywhere! We didn't do too badly and are sure to improve as we perfect things
after a few more days of setting up. It took us a bit over an hour to get
things done. This was mostly because we had to do the air mattress in a couple
of goes so as to not burn out the pump. We went for a walk around the camp area
and then had tea before it got dark. We had showered and were ready for bed
BEFORE 7!!!!!! A bit of reading and an early night. Probably an early get up as
well!
EL QUESTRO
Yes. It was an early rise! Wide awake around
5:30 with the light. Of course, there is also a full moon, so it was quite
bright in the tent at around 3am when David asked Sonja if she had a light on!
During the night we also decided we needed a bit more air into the air
mattress. VERY glad we decided to bring the doona rather than just a couple of
blankets as it was quite chilly during the night/early morning - hearing people
talk about Purnululu, we might not have brought a thick enough one as it is
often below 0C during the night. We'll just have to wait and see how we go!
First thing in the morning David lowered the
tyre pressure on the Prado - needed to make sure we have better traction on the
corrugated roads, to avoid tyre damage from the sharp rocks we'll be driving
over and so give us a smoother, safer drive. The Gibb River Road is best done
(in places it's the only way it can be done) in four-wheel drive.
After breakfast we headed off to Zebedee Thermal
Pool. This was quite a pleasant short walk to a warmish stream. There were
quite a few people there (sign says "If the car park is full, so is the
Pool. Come back later"). It is only open to the general public from 7am to
12pm as their tour groups use it from then on. We spent about 3/4hr relaxing in
the pool talking to other travellers.
Next we headed off to El Questro Gorge. Lots of
loose sand, some corrugations and a couple of river crossings - one of which
was a decent length and had a sudden dip in one spot that put water up over the
bonnet (we think that's where we almost lost our front number plate that is now
only held on by one screw and a couple of plastic ties - will have to keep a
regular check on that and see if we can find someone with a drill (ours is back
in Kununurra) so we can reposition it).
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| On the way into El Questro Gorge |
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| Track into El Questro Gorge |
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| David swimming in El Questro Gorge |
We organised lunch to take in with us and began
the hour walk over very rough terrain with lots of rocks and a couple of river
crossings up to the half-way point of the trail finishing at a pleasant
swimming hole. David had originally planned to complete the entire walk, but on
watching people trying to scramble up the gap between a couple of large
boulders at the end of the pool and talking to a couple of people who had just
returned after turning back about 300 metres further on, decided not to risk
it. David had a swim after lunch and we then returned to the car. The walk was
rather challenging for Sonja and took twice as long as David would have done on
his own. The difficulty for Sonja is 'dicky' knees and ankles. Using two
walking poles and braces on her knees helps, but the knee bending required to
clamber over some of the large rocks and steep sections is rather limiting.
Still, with a bit of encouragement and assistance from David, Sonja did
complete the trek.
We returned to El Questro and David went for a
swim in the Pentacost River there (not possible later on down the track because
of the estuarine crocodiles) - water too cold for Sonja, though she did dangle
her legs in it, trying to enjoy the chill. We added more air to the mattress as
last night we kept rolling into the middle and had to expend effort to get out
of it. Had tea and were showered well before 7. We sat reading by torch light
for a while, listening to the very good musician who was playing over at the
bar. Another early night.
HOME VALLEY STATION
After an early breakfast we packed all the gear
into and on top of the car - have worked out we can roll the bedding and
therefore only have one bundle to deal with and it's easy to remake when we
arrive.
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| Crossing the Pentacost River |
The Gibb River Road conditions were much like
going into El Questro, except we were lucky that two graders had just/ were in
the process of grading the road - a pleasant surface for us!
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| Gibb River Road |
It was only a short drive to Home Valley Station
and we were set up well before lunch. The rest of the afternoon was basically
rest time. Which was just as well as the temperature got to 37dgs. We had
grabbed ourselves a great spot down by the (but well away from) the river,
despite lots of red dust and ants. We had a picnic shelter and a good shade
tree - a great spot to sit back, relax and watch a terrific sunset over the
Cockburn Ranges.
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| Home Valley campsite view |
The Pentacost River
dropped as the tide went out - it dropped a good 5 - 6 metres! We only saw one
estuarine crocodile, but were told others had seen another one. . We had to use
the mosquito netting Sonja had made to go on the front of the tent - little
blighters came out just before dark. There is a great set of solar
shower/toilet units for campers to use.
We have been told that next week the Station is
closed as the traditional owners are having a get together on this spot. The
Rangers have been gathering firewood - they are expecting about 200 people.
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| Sonja on Bindoola Gorge Lookout trail |
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| Bindoola Gorge |
A pleasant night before we set off for a walk to
the Bindoola Gorge Lookout. We set off just after 9 am, following the markers.
It was supposed to be a 3-4hr walk, most of which was uphill. Sonja walked
almost to the end before she decided it was very unpleasant walking in the heat
and had a rest in the shade (with kangaroos passing her) while David completed
the last couple of hundred metres of the rocky trail. As on the way up, the way
back required a stop in the shady spots. Lots of drinks, but still very red
faces and dripping with sweat. When we had almost completed the return journey,
David branched off to the gorge itself and Sonja continued back to the car at
the homestead. About 1/2hr later David reached the end of the trail - a couple
of inviting looking waterholes that, having crocodiles in them, were a bit
dangerous for swimming. About an hour later David joined Sonja for a lovely
cool drink and a big bowl of chips for lunch. A couple of dips in the pool left
him feeling greatly refreshed. Again, the water was far too chilly for Sonja.
Hard to believe that the water hasn't absorbed the heat of the day.
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| Pentacost River - almost high tide |
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| Pentacost River- almost low tide |
A lot of talking to people in the pool convinced
us TO DO the trip up to Mitchell Falls. We'll stop at King Edward River for 2
nights and do a day run up to the Falls Campground.
We did see one vehicle that had obviously been
travelling too fast and had come a cropper, needing to be brought in on the
back of a semi. Just a reminder to all of us to take things easy!
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| Sunset - Cockburn Ranges |
Back to the tent, tea prepared, watched the
sunset and managed to eat before dark - dishes done just before 6 and mosquito
arrival!
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| Sunset - Cockburn Ranges |
DRYSDALE RIVER STATION
The drive from Home Valley was an interesting
one. A couple of river crossings, some bituminised sections (where the steepness
of the road, or where water erosion was likely to cause major problems) and a
lot of corrugations for which the road is well known. There was one stony
section where we passed 5 cars (3 with caravans on the back) and one camper
trailer (car gone) all with flat tyres. One of the cars had TWO flats!!!! The
first car we saw that had a flat/crumpled rim had sped past us about 1/4hr
before - didn't surprise us. We were also passed by a semi carrying another
4-wheel drive that had obviously had some problem on the way.
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| Gibb River Road |
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| DUST - drove through a LOT of it! |
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| Scones at Ellenbrae |
We made a stop at Ellenbrae Homestead and had
one of their famous scones, jam and cream with a cuppa for Sonja and a cold
drink for David. Yum !! A pleasant diversion. We stopped here at about 10:30
and the temperature was already 32C. Interesting old place that shows the
ingenuity of people who live in isolated places.
We arrived at the junction of the Gibb River Road and the Kalumburu turnoff and then
headed up a very red, relatively smooth road up to Drysdale Station. When we
checked in to the reception, the bloke behind the counter turned out to be a
schoolmate of my brother Greg! We had a bit of a chat and then set up our
campsite and had lunch. A bit of reading (Sonja, in her chair, off to the Land
of Nod for a while) and making sure we can keep in the shade.
Funny thing, isn't it. We come North to get away
from the cold, and when we are here, we spend time trying to keep out of the
sun and heat! The heat saps our get-up-and-go. Well, Sonja's anyway.
All things have been going well with first
experience of tenting in 15 years. It doesn't take long to set up or dismantle
the tent. The air mattress we have takes the longest (just over 1/2hr so we
don't kill the pump running off the car battery). Found the best way was, on
arrival, to lay the bed on a tarp and set the pump going, then set up the tent,
stop the pump, get chairs and table out, then start pump again. As the bed is
queen size, manhandling it through the doorway into the tent is awkward.
Problem solved! We turn the bed on it's edge on the tarp, pick the tarp by it's
corners, and carry it in. Still have to force it through the doorway -
carefully, ensuring the teeth on the zip don't tear it.
Everything has its place in the car - chairs fit
neatly behind the driver's seat, table and solar panels on the same side on the
back seat - camera (and all it's gear) just in front of them. Pillows over
them. Clothing in a bag on the seat behind Sonja - toilet bags fit under that -
First Aid kit below them. Bedding on top of the clothes. A basket with
information booklets, kindles and iPad,bag of rechargeable gear, and other
documents, somehow fits between all of that and still leave room for a book of
maps, a large drink bottle, a box of biscuits and a box of the essential
lollies! AND, Teddy sits in his special car seat (ie bag) above the basket,
suspended from the headrest. Our hats get tossed somewhere on top of all that.
In the rear section, on the shelf, the Engel
(run as a freezer) sits beside a plastic box (airtight lid) with dry foods in
it and a couple of cardboard boxes (specially chosen to fit the spaces) with
other food, oranges, potatoes & onions, and condiments.A plastic fold up
crate with frypan, billy, thermal cooker, etc, and another smaller box with
foil, wraps, plastic storage bags and cooking implements. We also have a couple
of tubs (used for when we do the washing with the van) carrying 20 litres of
water and a collapsable bucket. Swimming gear and backpacks on top of this.
A small picnic bag with cups, cutlery and crockery
goes on top of the backpacks.Finally, we have a small cooler box which fits in
the remaining square space. We keep our day's supplies in this: butter, salami,
cheese, lettuce, etc. These are all kept cool by a large reusable freezer
block, a small frozen juice and small frozen milk (put into the freezer the day
before we need it) and the next night's evening meal taken out of the freezer
in the morning - this has been working well so far, it's just a case of making
sure the battery running the freezer gets a good charge during the day from
either driving or the solar panels. (We will often put out the solar panels
when we go for an extended walk - chained to the car!).
Under the shelf on which all of the above sits,
we have a drawer - gas stove & cylinders and fresh fruit and vegetables,
and packets of flat breads in a David-designed and made thermal
packet/envelope, left over from shades he made to fit all of the back windows.
The toolkit manages to fit under the shelf at the very back, and still leave
room for a basket with the wash up gear, anti mozzie stuff, etc. A home-made
cardboard box houses the kettle, toasting fork, jaffle iron and cans of drink.
Last, but not least, is a box that has our tent light and the pump for the air
mattress. Things like the bag of pegs, picnic blanket (goes on floor under
lie-low), and sundry other odds and ends are tucked down the sides.
Before we left Kununurra David cut down a couple
of silver window shades to fit in the rear windows and altered another to fit
across the back window in an effort to reduce some of the heat and direct sun
on the Engel. Seems to be reasonably effective. The freezer runs at down to
-18C when travelling and when the sun is on the solar panels, and we raise it
to about -7C at night depending on the amount of charge still in the battery.
MITCHELL PLATEAU
Up early again and after breakfast we set off
around 7:45am! Sonja had started using a dust mask to stop breathing in at
least some of the massive amounts of dust we have to contend with each time we
pass another east-bound vehicle. The Kalumburu Road was quite a good one and we
were often able to travel at 80kph. It took us a little over an hour and a half
to reach the Mitchell Plateau turn-off. By 10am the temperature was over 30C.
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| Kalumburu Road |
After crossing the Edward River we took a short
detour and had a look at some aboriginal drawings found in various places in an area of large
rocks. We continued along the Mitchell Falls Track (signs very clearly state
you are NOT driving on a gazetted road - no insurance for hire vehicles - which
doesn't stop them driving it!).
It is very rough and corrugated, but nowhere
near as bad as we were expecting from all the very negative reports we'd had
from many other travellers. The average speed was less than 40kph, there were
some sandy sections and some steep, rough bits. A couple of the creek crossings
required a slow and thoughtful drive-through and, apart from a couple of narrow
sections provided ample opportunity to pass another vehicle driving out. Despite
that, we've been on worse roads. I suppose it's just that this is almost 90km
worth and took just on 2 hours to complete.
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| King Edward River Crossing |
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| Aboriginal Paintings |
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| Aboriginal Painting |
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| Mitchell Track - Livingstonia Palms and EVERYTHING covered in red dust |
Lots and lots of Livingstonian Palms, various
types of gums, open plains of spinifix. Was fascinating to drive along the road
and see all the vegetation covered in red dust up to about 2 to 3 metres in height - and at certain angles,
when the sun shone through them, they seemed to glow.
We paid our camping fee for the night (we
already have a National Parks Pass we purchased before we left Shepparton),
found ourselves a site that had some shade, set up and had lunch. After that we
wandered over to the office for the helicopters and booked ourselves a 6 minute
flight out to the falls for the next morning. We had decided, after talking to
others, to fly out and do the 2hr walk back, rather than the other way and find
ourselves waiting for ages or having to rush ourselves to be at the pick-up
site by a pre-arranged set time. After making the booking we went back and
rested in the shade until it was time to prepare the evening meal (somewhere
between 5 - 6pm so we still have some light to clean up by).
After tea we had a quick wash under the tent
awning (with a couple of sarongs tied up around it for a bit of privacy!) and
found ourselves in bed before 8:30 - It really is amazing how much our
activities are being regulated by the amount and timing of the light we have!
MITCHELL FALLS - KING EDWARD RIVER
After breakfast we packed the tent and gear into
and onto the car and still had over an hour to wait for our helicopter flight.
David wandered over to the booking shed and enquired about being able to get
off earlier. No problems! Another couple we had met at Drysdale, and were due
to take a later flight, ended out joining us. We swiftly rose to around 1200m
above the plateau. Great views of the falls and the surrounding countryside and
a running commentary by the pilot. The flight lasts only about 6 minutes, but,
having spoken to others along the track on the way out, that this was
definitely the best way to go. David took photos out of the side of the
helicopter (no door) and Sonja took a video from the front passenger seat.
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| 6 minute flight to the top of the Mitchell Falls |
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| Mitchell Falls |
The temperature was up in the 30s when we
arrived at the falls just after 9am and we both had a dip in the water at the
top of the falls. The trail was relatively easy to follow and involved some
scrambling over rocks at times. There was a bit of occasional shade and a
couple of spots with great views. We walked over the rocky top of Merten Falls
(nothing flowing over), passed a couple of creeks with lots of waterlillies in them and saw some aboriginal
drawings in some sheltered rocky outcrops near Little Merten Falls before
finally making our way back to the campground about 2hrs after we set off.
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| Sonja testing the waters at the top of Mitchell Falls |
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| David at the top of Mitchell Falls |
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| Water lillies |
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| Sonja crossing Mertens Falls |
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| Sonja and termite mound on Mitchell Falls Track |
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| Pool below Little Mertens Falls |
After a quick lunch, we drove off in 40 degree
heat back down the Mitchell Track to the King Edward River Campground. David
had decided to use a small inverter to charge up his camera battery - blew the
fuse! Fortunately he had a spare and replaced it when we arrived at the
campground. On the way, Sonja managed to try out the sunshade she had made when
we were in Katherine. It worked quite well - protected her from the direct sun
(window either up or down) and David could still see through it - of course it
had a distinctly red colour by the time we reached the campground.
The drive took us around 2hrs again and put us
there around 3:30. Just in time to set up and then go for a swim the (crocodile-free)
King Edward River. It was a very refreshing way to finish the day!
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| King Edward River |
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| Everything's red on the Mitchell Track and Kalumburu Road |
We have decided that one of the essentials of
camping is to be reasonably close to the toilets, but definitely to make sure
you are Not Downwind of them! Overall, we have been suitably impressed with the
toilets at all the camping spots.
MANNING GORGE
After leaving King Edward River, we drove back
out to the Kalumburu Road, turned south, and made a short stop at Drysdale
Station to top up our water supply (a 20 litre fold up container carried in the
back of the car and an untouched 20 litre plastic container on the roof as an
emergency). We also dumped our rubbish in the set dump point opposite the
Station drive - both our two previous camps are 'Take Your Rubbish With You',
and 'No Potable Water Here' parks.
We continued until we were again back out to the
Gibb River Road (again, turned south) -
lots of red, sandy, dusty track, with an occasional scattering of grey, yellow,
brown and white soils to add a bit of contrast. The vegetation was different to
parts of what we've driven on so far. Lots of young, sparsely covered saplings
on both sides of the road. There were quite a few flood ways that would have
made very challenging sections at the start of the opening of the roads just
after the wet season. We passed the rocky cliffs of the Phillip Range and
finally arrived at Barnett River Roadhouse. Had to buy some diesel - at
$2.05.11 per litre (that's 35c PER LITRE dearer than at Barnett Station). We
didn't fill the tank! To date, at 1:15pm, we have travelled 5,546 kms.
We paid our camping fees to both stay in the
Manning Gorge campground (also covers entry fee to the gorge) AND received a
Senior's discount! The campground in a 7km drive from the roadhouse. We found a
site with plenty of shade, set up, had lunch and then went fro a swim in the
Manning River. There were lots of people there. Very 'beach' atmosphere - sandy
slope down to water, and in, pandanus palms, and white gum trees. Some people were returning from the walk to
the gorge and used a small boat to tow themselves and their gear across the
river (the only way to reach the start of the track).
We will do the walk tomorrow. David will
complete the whole walk and Sonja will go as far as the lookout (on the advice
of a couple of the other campers that the remaining section would be too
difficult for Sonja's knees to handle) then return - to lounge at the water's
edge. We've also decided to spend a second night here.
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| How to cross the river to start the Manning Gorge trail |
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| Steep rocky descent along the trail |
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| Manning Gorge |
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| David swimming at Manning Gorge |
It took us around an hour and a half to make our
way along an open, dusty, rocky, occasionally steep track to the gorge. That
was after we had used the dingy to pull ourselves across the river to get to
the trailhead. Again, it was nowhere near as difficult as we were lead to
believe it would be. Sonja, with her dicky knees, only needed help on a couple
of the last sections where we had to clamber over a couple of large boulders.
This was after David had seen what appears to have been a fairly poisonous
brown snake that he had passed when he went to take a photo from the top of
some rocks.
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| Close encounter with a poisonous Brown Snake |
Fortunately, it had also been spotted by another walker who pointed
it out to him as he was making his way back to Sonja - a BIG step to the side
and a couple of photos!
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| Sonja exiting Manning Gorge |
It was well worth the effort. There was a large
pool with a waterfall cascading down on the far side from us. There were a
number of others there, and we had already passed a few who were on their way
back to the campground. We found a spot, removed the outer layer to reveal the
swimwear, and were quickly in the water. We spent an hour or so just relaxing
and having a dip before we made the long hot trek back. Short pull across the
Manning River and time for another dip before lunch. Then a read,and a bit of a
snooze for Sonja, to fill in the rest of a pleasant day.
SILENT GROVE / BELL GORGE
After our well practiced and efficient pack up,
Sonja drove us out of the campground and down the track - but only as far as
the first water obstacle, where she decided it was a bit rough for her first
attempt at rough driving. Maybe next time?
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| The Gibb River Road just goes on and on. |
At the end of the track was the Mt Burnett
Roadhouse where we pulled in for some bread and tomatoes ($9.80 per kg) - we
bought three, which we will have to wait for them to ripen - and some spuds.
Also a couple of postcards.
Sonja again took the wheel and drove us south on
the Gibb River Road - amazingly, part of it was bitumen! We stopped at Galvan's
Gorge - a very short gentle walk into a lovely waterhole, and what would be a
lovely waterfall when fully running. Perfect spot for an all day picnic and
swimming. Sonja decided she had the had enough 4-wheel driving and handed the
car back over to David.
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| Galvan's Gorge |
The colour changes in the surface of the road is
constantly inter-changing. Reds, browns, maroons, greys, whites and
combinations of all. Sometimes the changes occur as large or short lengths flowing across the road and other
times as horizontal bands along stretches of the road. Fascinating! Have taken
lots of photos trying to capture this, but like the long mountain ranges, the
camera is not reflecting the true image.
Stopped at Iminjti for toilets and to check out
diesel prices - added another 20 litres just to make sure we can reach the
highway in a couple of days without any problems. Bought a Streets Magnum !
Delicious ! Felt quite decadent !
Arrived at Silent Grove Campground about 11:00
am, set up camp (water is potable, and there are showers - always a treat) and
had lunch. Sonja decided not to go up to Bell Gorge, opting to have a slow day.
Only managed a 1/2 hour nap as too hot in tent. David headed off on his own,
but not a problem as there are walkers all over these places - like Bourke
Street.
The walk into Bell Gorge required a 10km drive
in from the campground before walking on what was largely a rough track, often
along uneven rocks or river beds. The last section would have been quite
difficult for Sonja because of the steepness and the size of some of the
boulders that required scrambling over. The last section down to the pool below
the falls provided little purchase on the very smooth, water-worn surface. That
said, David thought the walk (and the lengthy dip in the water and swim under
the waterfall) was well worth it!
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| At the Top of Bells Gorge |
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| The falls at Bell Gorge |
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| Bell Gorge |
WINDJANA GORGE
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| A little late on the sign! |
Sonja drove today! This included a couple of
river crossings and some very corrugated road. We arrived at Windjana Gorge
campground around 10:45 am and set up camp before having an early lunch.
Opposite the campground are some very impressive vertical rockfaces which
emerge abruptly from the fairly flat plains. They stand as one continuous line
of ginormous cliffs - the remains of an ancient undersea reef ( Devonian Reef).
The gorge itself has been formed by water erosion over millennium. They are mostly grey with some patches of yellow and
green where some trees have managed to take hold. Today the .......... River
meanders through forming large sandy beaches. Flat areas of rock provide sun
beds for lots of freshwater crocodiles.
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| On the road into Windjana Gorge |
Many of
the boabs here have leaves on them (the first we've seen on our travels that
have had foliage). Lots of pandanus palms, beautiful white gums, and many other
types of trees.
We took the Gorge walk and on the first sighting
of the water saw the first of many Johnston (freshwater) crocodiles. The first
couple were floating around in the water. The next 40 or so were all soaking up
the sun on the banks of the river. There were large numbers of bats along the
trail as well. At one spot we had stopped to take some photos of them and, just
after moving, a large branch came crashing down where we had just been
standing. It had been so overloaded with bats hanging off it, it just collapsed
under the weight. We also met up with 3 young French people who were driving
from Perth to Darwin and had a nice long chat as we all ambled along. We also
saw another bower bird and his nest at the start of the trail. We spent a bit
over 2 hours of easy walking (a sandy
track - no challenges at all) and photographing the crocs and the walls of the
gorge.
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| Entry into Windjana Gorge |
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| A few of the freshwater crocodiles on the way in |
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| Rocky outcrop |
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| Cliff wall in Windjana Gorge |
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| Too many bats for the branch - fell down just after the photo was taken! |
This is our last night on our Gibb River Road
trip. We'd really have liked to have spent more time to fully do justice to the
many remaining gorges. We under estimated the time it would take to do the trip
(as well as not really being sure how we'd cope with the constant rituals
involved in overnight tenting). Also, before we left Kununurra we had to make a
booking for a flight out to see the Horizontal Falls (north of Derby), thus
determining the amount of time we had. The Horizontal Falls trip had to be made
according to the local tides - Garry and Jill missed it because the tides
weren't favourable for them - WE DIDN'T WANT TO MISS OUT!!!! This means lots of
overnight stops to get from here to Kununurra, clean up, repack both van and
car and drive back over the same section of highway to be in Derby in a week.
TUNNEL CREEK / NGUMPAN CLIFF LOOKOUT
We left Windjana Gorge,turned south on the
Fairfield Leopold Downs Road,and headed towards Fitzroy Crossing. On the way,
we stopped at Tunnel Creek. This formation was created by a lava flow which,
due to the effects of water erosion over Millenia, had a long tunnel worn
through it. David's camera batteries decided to both die on him and his second
camera's battery also decided to play funny games with him. We did manage to
get some photos as we made our way by torch light through the tunnel.
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| Sonja entering Tunnel Creek |
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| Beginning of the trip |
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| Sonja, knee deep in the water |
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| Half-way point |
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| Made it to the end - then the return journey |
There is
an open section part way along that provides a bit of light and a spot for bats
to enter and leave the cave. There are a number of stalactites hanging from the
ceiling in a number of sections. We had to wade through water up to about knee
height in a few places. We had prepared for this and took our 'water-walking'
shoes - we have used when we have walked
on rocky reefs on the east coast. The amount of water here is dependent on the
time of year and how recently rain has fallen. It can be too dangerous to go
through there at times.
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| Grader at work - a much needed exercise |
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| Very sharp stones on the road out |
The rest of the 110kms of road out to the
highway was quite corrugated, although we were lucky enough to come across four
graders that were doing their best to smooth out the worst of the problems.
When we finally reached the bitumen road (Great Northern Highway), David pumped
up the tyres to normal road pressure and we continued on our way to Fitzroy
Crossing.
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| David pumping up the tyres to go back on the bitumen |
We filled the car with fuel and headed out to Geike Gorge.
Unfortunately, because we want to be in Purnululu National Park (a bit
over 350 kms away) tomorrow, we only had
a limited time here. We had lunch and time for only a couple of short walks,
neither of which actually took us into the actual gorge - which can really only
be see via boat. Can't see everything. Again, we'll come back one day and
probably do the gorge cruise to get a better view of the whole thing.
After leaving Geike Gorge we headed back to the highway and headed north. We
stopped about 100kms along the road from Fitzroy Crossing (after having had to
wait at each of the three road crews working on sections of the highway - they
are gradually making their way up into the Northern Territory) and stopped at a
roadside free camp spot with a great view of the surrounding ranges, called
Ngumpan Cliff Lookout. It was well off the road, had toilets and a dump spot
(for chemical toilets carried by caravaners) and had quite a lot of people
already in when we arrived and set up. This felt a little strange as we usually
stop at these places with the van and haven't done this with the tent before -
having a stone base made it a bit difficult getting the tent pegs in, but we
had a pleasant, quiet night.
PURNULULU NATIONAL PARK
Up well before 6 and away by 7:30! Unheard of
for Sonja!!!! The sun woke us at
5:30am!!
We had quite a distance to cover today and so
didn't want to waste any time. We had a short stop at Halls Creek and then
drove on to the entrance road into the Purnululu National Park. As it is 53kms
of very rough, corrugated, narrow, winding road, it also had lots of dips and
crests, often having all of the aforementioned at one time! David again lowered
the tyre pressure (usually 32 psi down to 26psi) and we made it into the
Ranger's office by 12:30. We completed the campsite registration and then
waited for the office to open so we could arrange for a flight over the area. A
phone call (using the park phone) had us booked in for 2:30 today. This suited
us as we then didn't have to try to work out where and when we would have to be
anywhere in the next couple of days - we are booked in for two nights.
Of course, this only gave us a short time to
drive to the camp area where David erected the tent while Sonja prepared some
sandwiches for us to eat on the drive to the other end of the park where the
helicopter flights left from. Made it with a couple of minutes to spare!
We took a 42 minute flight which gave us a great
view of the gorges and the peculiar beehive formations that have had the area
World Heritage listed. It was a great way to get an overview of everything.
LOTS of photos were taken (Sonja took the video camera and took a number of
views until the battery died (we're not having the greatest of luck with the
camera side of things)!
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| Bungles from the helicopter |
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| Fault lines showing from the air |
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| Rugged terrain from the air |
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| Gorge from the air |
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| One of the many gorges from the air |
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| View from helicopter flight |
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| Beehive domes from the air |
After the flight we headed back to the camp and
finished setting up and had finished tea by 5:30! We feel like we must really
have joined the elderly, but have to eat this early to be able to clean up in a
bit of light if possible. A bit of reading, a bit of a bird bath (only pit
toilets and no showers or drinking water here) and bed. It is definitely much
cooler here at night time than what we have had for a long time.
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| View from the road |
The overnight temperature dropped to 4C, so
quite chilly.
Our second day in Purnululu had us up a bit
later, but still off at 8:30 for a full day of adventuring. We started off at
Stonhenge, where David did a short walk around a circuit which explained the
uses made by the local aborigines of various plants and trees. We then moved on
to Bloodwoods car park and went up to the lookout, before heading off on the
Mini Palms walk. Sonja walked around 3/4 of the distance (mostly on loose
riverbed stones) and returned to the car park to wait for David. The track
became too difficult for Sonja to manage easily with her knee problems. David made it to the end of the walk, which
has a couple of ladders to allow people to get to the end viewing point. The
area was quite delightful with lots of palms and shady spots. A couple of spots
were quite narrow and difficult to negotiate.
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| Mini Palms Gorge |
Next we moved on to Echidna Chasm. We had been
told to be here around midday to get the best light on the very narrow gorge.
The whole length of the track was on loose riverbed stones and was difficult
walking in some places (Grade 4 [out of 6] walk). The trip was well worth the
effort and we made it in time for the sun to give some great highlights of the
red rocked chasm. We had lunch under some shaded tables back at the carpark,
after David completed the short walk to Osmond Lookout on the way out of
Echidna Chasm.
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| Into Echidna Chasm |
RETURN TO KUNUNURRA
We did a big cleanup of the tent and air
mattress before packing them away as it will be a couple of weeks before we
need them again. Sonja did some videoing on the way out. We left before 8:30am,
but some people most have headed off very early as we passed a lot of vehicles
on the way out.
The tyres were pumped up when we reached the
highway about an hour and a half later (55kms).
We had a bit of a walk around at Doon Doon
Roadhouse and discovered there was no more room on The SD card in David's
camera (1280 photos).
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| Our route and campsites along the way. |
Arrived in Kununurra just after midday and
bought some chips for lunch, to have something different from salad sandwiches.
We stopped at an Autopro store where we picked up some fuses and a 5 metre lead
that can be used when we pump up the air mattress - one of the little things we
discovered we needed to have as we travelled around on this trip. We also
picked up some grocery staples we had run out of, and then checked into the
caravan park. Here we moved from the storage section to the same site we had
last time, and after setting up, did a couple of loads of washing.
EVERYTHING is covered in DUST!!!!
Items were cleaned as they came out of the car
before we put them back into place in the van.
Our second day here involved more washing,
dusting, cleaning, etc. David had to find somewhere to print off and sign more
forms relating to his father's estate that had been emailed to him. We found
the Community House and had no problems in accessing the Internet and
completing everything. We have also booked ourselves in to a caravan park in
Broome that will allow us to store the van when we take a couple of days of
tenting on our trip up to Cape Leveque.
KUNUNURRA - DERBY
We took two days to get to Kununurra.
An overnight stop at Mary Pool on the Mary River and the second night at
Ellendale. On the second day we decided, as we weren’t in a rush, that we would
stop at Geike Gorge and do the gorge cruise. This didn’t take place until
2:30pm and so we had a long wait (having arrived a little after 10:00 am). We
willed in the time with a bit of reading (Sonja had a short nap) and then
lunch. It was a good time of day for the light and some decent reflections of
the gorge on the river.
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| Acid rain has caused the vertical erosion lines on the rock |
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| Great colour in Geikie Gorge |
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| The pink sections are from algae. The horizontal erosion comes from moving water when the Gorge is full (Up to the black marks) |
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| Reflection in Geikie Gorge |
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| Great colour and reflections in Geikie Gorge |
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| Interesting formations in Geikie Gorge |
With the cruise completed, we filled with fuel at
Fitzroy Crossing and then drove 90kms to the free campsite at Ellendale. This
was the latest we have been in anywhere for a long time. However, being in the
van this time, we had set up and were finishing tea in about an hour! Like Mary
Pool, there were quite a number of other vans already in and set up.
Fortunately, everyone settles relatively quickly. These two stops both had
plenty of sites, toilets and dump spots for chemical toilets. The Western
Australian Road authorities really do well for caravaners and motorhomers – a
necessity really to allow the travellers to cover the vast distances required
to reach the states remote tourist spots.
We arrived in Derby around 10:00am, set
up and had a drive around the town. We went up to the Jetty where the
difference between low and high tides is around 10 metres! We confirmed our
booking for the Horizontal Falls tour and then settled in for a relaxing
afternoon back at the van.
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| Derby Wharf at low tide |
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| Mud flats near the wharf at low tide |
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We have also just discovered that David's phone has decided to stop working - could be because we forgot to take it out of the van before we headed off and it took a bit of a thumping on the way here. We've looked up a place in Broome where we will hopefully be able to get it fixed. Can't really afford to be without it!
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